Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128631
~~WBikes 1 2001 Yamaha FZ-1 • - and top of th e line br akes , th e Fl-l shoul d b e a blast to rid e. Introduced to co m pe te with t he n ew Su zuki 12 00 Ban dit, a n d the u p d a t ed K aw asa k i lRX , it seems that this segment of th e market has fina lly caught on in th e Unit ed St ates - after being one of t he most po pu lar seg ments in Europ e fo r years . Yamaha refers to th e ne w motorcycle as a " m uscl esp ort " bike We think Sup eraggressives tandard works better. We don't hav e all of th e spe ci fi cations yet , but we will te ll yo u what we do know . Let 's start with the heart of the b east - th e motor. Essentially a redesign ed R1 pow erpla nt , th e cy linder head , crankc ases, and crankshaft have been m odified fo r this ap plication. T he c y li n der hea d , and crankcase m odifications were done to make th e motor fun ction in th e c h as sis of th e Fl - I - wh i ch is quite differ en t than the R 1. The m ost o bvi ous differen c e is th e use of 3 7m m Mikuni sid edraft carbur et ors in pl a c e o f th e R I ' s downdraft c ar bs , m aking a red esign of th e cyli nde r head manda to ry . Ya ma ha claims tha t th e Fl - I will prod uc e c lo s e t o 140 h o r se p o w e r w hi le p r o du c ing t or q u e a - p l e n t y. Yama ha in c reased t he weig h t of th e cr a n k s ha f t , w h i c h i n -t urn sh ou ld improv e th e tor qu e effe ct in the mid range o f t he po wer -b and . Oth er tha n t ha t , t he eng ine is fo r the m ost pa rt The FZ-1 is the latest offering from Yamaha, aimed to compete with bikes like the new Suzuki Bandit 1200. Note (below) the c lassic superbike-style handlebars, and R1 inspired styling. B Y B LA K E CO NNE R 1_ ast we ek we showed yo u a pictu re " o f t he n ew Ya ma ha F azer, wh ich was in trod uced as a n ew 2001 m od el for the Eu rop ean ma rk et. Cycle News has n ow rec eiv ed c o nf ir m at ion from Yamaha that th e bike w ill be co m ing to the United St ates - and that's go od news. Last week we mistaken ly called the bike t h e Fl - I Fazer, ho wever, th e Eur opean b ik e w i ll b e c a lle d the Fazer, and th e v ersio n we wi ll receiv e in th e United St ates wi ll be c all ed t he FZ - I . Either wa y , the Fl- 1 sho uld p ro v e to b e an exciti ng b ik e . On p ap er , it appe ars to ha ve all the m ak ings of a total hoo lig an b ike. W ith a big modern motor, Sup er b ike -bend ba r s f ro m an era whe n L a w so n , Raine y , and Sc hwa ntz we re ridi ng Superbikes (Left) The FZ-1 brake s are the same excellent set -up used on the R1 - the only difference is that t h e pad materia l is d ifferent . (Ri g ht) The motor i s essentially t h e same motor that i s i n t h e VZF-R1 - t h e Engine Type Liquid cooled, DOHC, 5 valves per cylinder, inline four Displacement 998cc Carburetion (4) Mikuni 37mm side-draft Trans miss ion 6 speed Fuel Capacity .5.46 gallons Front Suspension ConventionaI 43mm KYB, fully adjustabl e Rear Suspension Piggy·ba ck style, fully adjustable Front Tire 120j 70ZR17 Rear Tire 180j55ZR 17 Final Drive . . . .. . . . . ... . •. ... ... . .. . .. . ... .. . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . .chain Colors Blue or Black List Price Nj A crankcases, crankshaft, and cylinder head were modified for this application. The most obvious differenc e being sidedraft carbs, as opposed to the d owndraft carbs on the R1. 42 S EPTEM BER 20 . 2000 ' cue I e nevvs